


Remainder, Reminder

by onyourleft084



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Closure, Force Ghosts, Kyber Crystals, Main event character cameos, Rogue One Spoilers, Semi-Canon Compliant, The Rebel Alliance, connections to A New Hope, implied Jyn/Cassian, last survivor, lots of paiiiiiinnnn!, one person survives, semi-au, semi-fix-it, vignette scenarios, war prisoners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:30:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9086818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onyourleft084/pseuds/onyourleft084
Summary: Six ways each of the Rogues could have survived where the others did not, and what happens after.





	1. same software, different case

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help myself. This movie gave me FEELINGS.

The blasts take down the doors, take chunks out of the control panel, and finally bite pieces off K-2SO's body. His left arm is a tangle of sparks and wires and melting metal, and while he fends off the Troopers with his own blaster, he knows it's not going to last.

But so far, things are okay. Cassian and Jyn are climbing up the tower. They'll be fine with the information K-2SO has given them, and he's done everything he can.

Well, maybe not everything yet.

There's one trick he has left. It's the first thing he's learned since being reprogrammed. K-2SO extends the data retrieval instrument from his torso onto another control panel, the one for monitoring Imperial droids. One unit shows up on the radar about to board an evacuation vessel. He establishes a connection between them first, overrides the other droid's functions, and prepares for a data transfer to its system. With information of that size, he hopes it's going to work.

It does.

The world goes dark all of a sudden, and then K2's photoreceptors activate, his surroundings coming into focus. He's inside an Imperial ship, flanked by other droids and Stormtroopers. He tries to look down and realizes he can't. This body is different. It's an astromech. An R-4 unit. The data transfer-- all of K2's programming, everything that makes him who he is, actually worked.

In this new body, in the heart of the enemy, he can do some real damage. And his chances of success are high...very high.

K-2SO looks around calmly. Now, where to begin?

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title taken from the Dr. Who special episode 'Day of the Doctor.'


	2. Let Go

The connection to the Rebels goes through, someone manages to disable the shield gate, and the Rebellion has sent in more of their fleet as backup. Things should be looking up, and yet Bodhi waits anxiously near the comm for Cassian's next orders, an update, anything. His hands are shaking-- not a good quality in a pilot-- and worry threatens to eat him up from the inside. Where are Jyn and Cassian now? Are they close to succeeding, are they alive, are they--

"Come in, Rogue One. Come in!"

"A-a-admiral?" stammers Bodhi. He remembers the voice, not the name, but 'Admiral' is sure to do as a mode of address for now.

"Yes. We have bad news-- that planet-killer weapon Erso spoke of? It's here! It's powering up-- ready to destroy the base-- you need to get off that beach! Gather your team and get out!"

"I-- yes, sir. Copy that!"

A quick order to the others onboard, a few more defiant blaster shots in the enemy's direction, and Bodhi starts to take off-- then a beam of light suddenly pours itself out of the clouds and into the ocean beyond.

All the pilot can think of is _Damn, Galen, how the hell did you think of this?_

"Bodhi!"

The voice crackles over the speaker, desperate and urgent. Bodhi lunges forward. "Captain, I'm here."

There is a pause before Cassian speaks again. That pause doesn't sound good. "I'm sorry. There's nothing for it. They're gonna blow up the base and we're too close to it for you to get us. You have to go while you're still inland."

"Go?" Bodhi repeats. No. No. "I'm not doing that. I thought you said I was your only way out! Stay where you are. We still have time--"

"No!" Cassian yells. "We don't. I'm sorry. If you want to get out alive, you need to do it now."

"Please tell me there's another way out for you..."

"Bodhi." It's Jyn. Her voice is clear and calm. How is she staying calm? "You've done enough for us. You've done far more than I could possibly ask. But now you need to let go. It will be okay, I promise."

"No." Bodhi's voice is hoarse. "No, it won't."

Outside the sound of gunfire rattles, explosions go off, people shout and run. Inside the ship, Bodhi feels so removed and isolated from it all. On the horizon, he can see the energy beam streaking across the sky and driving deep into the ocean, the impact growing faster than he anticipated. _Shit, this is real._

Cassian's voice cuts across to him through the comm."There's not enough time. Go now. That's an order!"

Above him, X-Wings and other Rebellion crafts make their hasty escape from Scarif before it all blows. Cassian's right-- he's running out of time.

"May the Force be with you," Bodhi croaks past the lump in his throat.

Nothing on the other end of the comm indicates that they've heard him. All at once the connection goes dead. Bodhi's hands are still shaking as they flick switches and pull levers like he always does, a routine, a tradition.

He points the ship upward and to safety and hates himself, hates himself with a passion, as he flies out of the shield gate and leaves the rest of Rogue One behind.

It isn't till he's in the safe, star-blurred cocoon of hyperspace that he takes his hands off the controls and lets himself weep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Initially I thought that if there was one person who'd would have an interesting survival story it would be Bodhi, so I put my money on him being the only one to make it out alive. Instead he 'died like some punk' (quote Samuel Jackson.) He lives in this one, but I put him through a lot of pain, so I'd guess it evens out??
> 
> (He also forgets the admiral's name because I forgot the admiral's name lol)


	3. The Only Light in the Darkness

Certain death is okay when you're facing it with blind eyes and total abandonment. Certain death is not okay when it takes your best friend when it should have taken you.

Chirrut is calm, almost complacent, as he finds he master switch and pulls the lever down. Instantly he feels the tugging tide of the Force turning in their favor, like a wave rushing in to meet the shore. Then he hears Baze screaming for him to come back.

"Chirrut!"

He turns. Baze's footsteps are familiar and heavy. He leaps onto Chirrut and tackles him to the ground as a grenade goes off, the powerful blast sending them both sprawling-- Chirrut's enhanced hearing picks up a dull, sickening 'crack!' at the base of Baze's spine-- then he's flung out of reach and everything is dust and sand and ash in his mouth and the thick smell of smoke and a deafening ringing in his ears...

Chirrut's senses come back as the dust clears, and he reaches for Baze desperately, as if for an anchor, for a lifeline... He drags himself across the ground until he finds the body, his hands all over bloody armor and sweat soaked dreadlocks--

"Baze...Baze...Baze, please--"

He can't hear breathing and he can't feel a heartbeat, and all at once the steady flame of faith that Chirrut has kept burning long inside him goes out. The Force feels so far away and empty. And Chirrut feels alone.

The Troopers close in on him, guns at the ready.

"Hold fire," he hears one say. "This one could be useful to us."

They hold him down. Chirrut could take them for just a few more blows longer, but he doesn't resist worth a damn. Then the deafening whir of an Imperial craft approaches and a carrier lands to evacuate the Stormtroopers and they drag Chirrut along with them, saving him, dooming him, pulling him away from the body of his best friend, and they throw him into the ship. The pilot says "What do we have him for?" and one of the Trooper captains responds, "Information. He's a Guardian of the Whills, after all. Vader might have use for him."

Despair clutches at Chirrut's chest, unfamiliar and disturbing. Are they kidding him? He's blind. He's broken. He's no use to anyone. When the Imperial base implodes under the force of the Death Star's beam, he breaks a little bit more.

They land at another Imperial outpost and once again Chirrut is dragged out of the ship. They push him into a cold, tight space that can only be a prison cell. Then the door slides shut. Chirrut is alone.

He's more alone than he's ever been in his whole life.

The next day they will come back for him. They'll question, abuse and torture. But one thing is for sure-- if they want anything, if they get anything, it will not be from Chirrut Imwe.

He sits cross legged on the floor, trying to steady his breathing. In, out. In, out. With every breath, remember the ones who were left behind-- Jyn, Cassian, Bodhi, the droid K2SO, and Baze. Baze, protecting Chirrut till the end. His friend did not share the same trust in the Force, but Chirrut always had enough faith for both of them. It is what he clings to right now, growing the spark that has all but gone out. While he is alive, there is still hope.

"I am one with the Force," murmurs Chirrut, finding his voice again. "The Force is with me. I am one with the Force, the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, the Force is with me. I am one with the Force..."

 

 

 

 


	4. Remember Us to Life

This isn't the way it should have been.

Baze sits in the back of the Rebel star flyer, fingers clenching and unclenching around his weapon. The vessel arrived just in time, rescuing what's left of Rogue One including Baze, but they might as well have left him on the beach for all he cares. Chirrut died in contentment and peace despite the violence of his demise, placing his faith in the Force until the very end. Baze was ready to go out the same way.

Instead, it seems like he's going to live in bitterness and guilt.

For a few hours he blocks everything out and then little by little he pieces together the information. The Empire used their super weapon to destroy the base. The Rebellion sent in the rest of their fleet just before then, saving their people and buying Rogue One some more time. Not enough, Baze thinks angrily, Not everyone was saved. Jyn and Cassian didn't make it off the beach. K2SO was destroyed defending them. Somebody tossed an explosive at Bodhi from behind like a coward, and Chirrut-- Chirrut, dammit--

He's seething, safe back in the briefing room on Yavin IV where Rebellion leaders and soldiers alike gather around him to offer congratulations and condolences.

"And the plans?" Baze demands. The blasted plans that they risked and lost everything to retrieve.

Mon Mothma frowns. "They were successfully transmitted, but the recipient-- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan-- was captured by Darth Vader. We don't know if she--"

Baze slams his gun on the table once in frustration, then he storms out, a swirl of rage and despair.

They give him a medal anyway. There is no ceremony because the attack on Scarif was unsanctioned and technically, never happened. But Baze gets a medal, sure. Around his neck it hangs heavy with the lives of the ones he couldn't save. He takes it off almost at once, in disgust. It's not worth it.

Given how busy things have been around the base lately, maybe nobody will notice if he left. Just stowed away on a supply carrier, got off at the next system, and made his way from there...

_"You're not really thinking about leaving, are you?"_

Baze whips his head around, but he doesn't see anyone behind him in the corridor. He narrows his eyes, puzzled. That voice sounded oddly like...

Chirrut?

_"Things are just about to get interesting, old friend."_

"What?" Baze whispers, looking around wildly. He's hallucinating. He's going mad. Or he's just too used to having Chirrut by his side making smart-ass remarks all the time.

Baze is distracted by a sudden rush of beige and orange jumpsuits running down the hallway. "What's going on?" He manages to ask.

"We've just received a request for entry from an unidentified ship," one says, slowing down just enough to talk. "They have Princess Leia onboard!"

Baze's spine tingles. Things have just started to get interesting, indeed...

He decides to stay. To see what else becomes of this turn of events. The Princess arrives on Yavin IV accompanied by a pilot, a Wookiee, two droids and a farmboy...Baze makes himself scarce, finding no reason or glory in revealing himself to them. But when the Rebels converge to examine the Death Star plans and begin an assault on the weapon Baze is there, lingering in the back of the room. There is a flaw in the design, as Jyn Erso said.

"She was right," he murmurs, as the X-Wings take off. Baze watches them go. He silently wishes that the Force would be with them.

Although he returns to his quarters, he tries to resist falling asleep, because sleep means dreaming and dreaming means nightmares, but it's too hard to fight, and soon he finds himself back on the beach, explosions going off everywhere...Rebels and troopers alike running in different directions...Chirrut, in his arms, bleeding and broken...

"Don't go," he's begging him again. "Don't go!"

"What are you talking about? I'm right here," says a voice with a familiar lilting drawl, and Baze looks up. Sitting on top of an ammo box not far away is Chirrut himself, clean and unharmed, unlike the figure Baze is holding. Baze is stunned, unsure of what to think. Definitely a dream, right?

"Oh yes," says Chirrut, as if hearing his thoughts. He rises, leaning on his long staff. "This is a dream, sure. Otherwise how can I be here and there at the same time?" He gestures to his lifeless form with the staff.

"Chirrut?"

"It's me."

"I thought I heard your voice earlier. Was it really you?" Chirrut nods, grinning. "But how--?"

"I get by with a little help from the Force," Chirrut says cheerfully. "You and I have followed its ways for a long time, Baze. That's why I can reach you. That's why you can hear me." He walks over to him. "I knew I had to say goodbye."

Baze exhales in disbelief. "Chirrut...I'm so sorry--"

Chirrut laughs. "Don't be sorry, old friend. All is as the Force wills it, remember?"

"The Force," Baze murmurs. "So it really-- you--"

"Yes," smiles Chirrut contentedly. "It's true. All of it. Why, just ask the farmboy."

"Farmboy?" echoes Baze. "How did you know about the farmboy?"

"Because he is strong with the Force. And I am one with the Force." Chirrut points to Baze. "And the Force is with you."

"I'd rather have you by my side," says Baze gruffly.

Again his friend laughs. "Oh, but I am! As long as you remember me...fight for me...for all of us..." He takes a few steps back, and beyond him Baze can just make out four more shapes; two men, a droid, and a woman, "and trust the Force...we'll be right here with you. Always."

The dream fades. Baze wakes up with a start. He's not sure if it's because the dream has ended, or because of the cheering outside his walls...

Cheering?

He drags himself out of bed, out the room and into the corridor. All around him people are screaming, clapping, some even crying. Atop a sea of triumphant orange jumpsuits a blonde, laughing figure is lifted up victoriously. The farmboy.

It sinks in. Baze sags against the nearest wall. They did it. They've destroyed the Death Star.

And yet, he knows this is far from over. No doubt, the Empire would strike back. And when it did, Baze would make sure he was on the front lines with a very, very big gun.

_"We'll be right here with you, Baze. Always."_

Perhaps he'll look up at the night sky and find Chirrut somewhere in the stars, in a place where tyrants and darkness and despair could not touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's probably my favorite one I've written. It was fun to play around with the idea of Force transcension in the afterlife, as well as some subconscious closure with the rest of the characters. They all deserved better tbh
> 
> Title taken from Regina Spektor's new album


	5. For What It's Worth

The leg hurts, but he'll live.

Cassian drags himself out of the tower and tries to find a way up from the outside, but its height makes him dizzy and anyway he can't see Jyn at all, and somehow not having her in his sights makes him almost panic. He staggers around seeking an entryway but finds his path blocked by a small squadron of guards. It's only a matter of time before he's blown to bits.

Then blaster fire rains down from above and Cassian ducks, but only before he realizes the guards are the targets, not him. He rolls over to see a pair of X-Wings spiraling away and looping back for another attack, clearing the way for a small Rebel craft to hover close to the ground. The door opens, revealing the backup that he was sure would never arrive. Then his leg gives way and he falls.

"You came," Cassian says, breathlessly first, and then louder, "You came!"

There is so much he needs to tell them, so much they have to know. Jyn is still up there with the plans, and even if she's able to transmit them, there's a slim chance of her making it out alive. They need to get her, to find her-- screw him, he thinks, Jyn is the important one here--

An explosion goes off deafeningly close and Cassian is tossed across the floor, panic the last thing he feels before losing consciousness.

 

* * *

 

 "So none of them made it out."

Mon Mothma shakes her head slowly.

Cassian sighs, elbows on the large round table before them. He tries not to picture each one of them as he remembers them before the attack on Scarif. Bodhi's eyes are wide and nervous but bright with idealism. Baze has a look that is both fierce and kind. Chirrut stares with unseeing, unabashed faith and serenity. Jyn's gaze is soft and determined and full of hope.

He's lost all of them. Even K2. Without the droid, Cassian feels like he might as well have lost his leg.

He's sitting before Mothma, battered and miserable, because despite the care he was given while unconscious he still feels damaged in a million places. They are alone in the council room. If the evacuation effort had been more successful, perhaps the other members of Rogue One would be here too. Perhaps K2 would make a relieved joke about defying their odds of survival. Perhaps Cassian's hand would find Jyn's and wrap around it and never, ever let her go.

Instead he clenches a fist and says "Why...why was I the only one?"

"You were the first person we could reach. By the time the ships landed, your two friends, the Guardians of the Whills, were already dead."

"But Jyn--"

A flicker of pain crosses Mothma's face. "We received her transmission successfully, but they couldn't find her in time. I'm sorry."

This isn't the whole truth. Cassian is offended. He is an intelligence officer, a master interrogator, an experienced bullshit detector, one of the Alliance's best. And Mon Mothma should know better than to screw with him. He leans over, his jaw hard. "No. No, no, no. You prioritized me, didn't you? Because I'm still the most useful one to the Rebellion?"

"There was only so much we could do," Mothma says, her voice carrying a sharp edge. "The imperative was to evacuate everyone--"

"--starting with me," Cassian spits, "because you still need me. Isn't that right?" When Mothma says nothing, he continues, "I'm not saying you didn't try to save the others. Sure, sure you did." He pauses. "But you just tried a little bit harder with me."

He exhales, rewarded, when Mothma nods reluctantly. "Council's decision. You were too valuable to the Alliance to risk not retrieving alive."

Cassian stares. They gambled. They actually gambled his friends' lives. And while the news of a successful transmission should make him feel relieved, he cannot allow himself to feel hope when the price is painfully high.

"Anything else?" He finally asks.

Mothma sighs. "Rogue One acted without official sanction. The Alliance was fractured enough with Saw Gerrera breaking away, and we can't let the other systems get wind of anything that indicates we can't control our own. To the rest of the Galaxy, this entire mission will make us seem disorganized. Divided. And thus, weak. If we're going to get support we must continue to appear unified, or the Empire will most certainly take advantage of the situation." She looks up. "We're going to pretend we sent a team of spies to retrieve the data plans, but I cannot release any details."

Cassian's stomach falls. "So nobody will know. Nobody will know the truth about the others?" He doesn't need her to reply. All of this, their sacrifice, is going to be an untold secret. A story hidden between the lines of a history book.

"You are a spy, Captain Andor," states Mothma. "I'm sure you understand that what isn't said can sometimes be just as important as what is."

"Well, you wanted me alive, so now you have me." He forces himself to look at her again. "I assume there is still work to be done."

She nods. "There is. Will you still do it?"

A fire ignites in Cassian's veins. This question is a courtesy, a choice for him in case he finds Mothma's revelation enough reason to abandon his cause; but he knows, and he knows she knows, that he already has an answer. He's been in this fight since he was six, after all, and the conflict is his life, and now more than ever he has another reason to fight. To avenge.

Or he just needs something to do to take his mind off the pain.

Cassian clenches his teeth, tells himself he doesn't hurt. "Of course I will. Where do you want me?"


	6. A Heart of Kyber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are gonna love this one.

If anyone was going to die with a condescending smile on his face, it was going to be Cassian Andor. It was going to be Cassian Andor, looking at Jyn Erso for the last time.

"You shouldn't have done that," she pants, pulling his limp form into her lap. She feels torn flesh and singed clothing beneath her fingers, blood sticky from the blaster wound that has ripped him in the side. "Krennic was aiming for me."

"Good thing he's easily distracted," coughs Cassian. "At least I returned the favor."

Beyond them, smoke rises from a pile of white robes, all that remains of the once intimidating Director. Cassian nods, "Too bad he...didn't live long enough to...agh...see his good work."

Jyn turns her head to where Cassian is nodding, and she sees the Death Star rising like a perilous moon behind the clouds, its cannon ready to fire...

Cassian's hand brushes her face. "Jyn. We did it."

"Yes," she says, but her voice is hoarse. They did it, but he's dying. She knows it. He knows it, too. That's why he doesn't break eye contact, choosing to make her the last thing he sees.

"I'll save you," she says anyway, desperately. "I'll save you and bring you home, and they'll fix you, and we'll find out who got the plans..."

"We'll get medals," he chuckles, voice weak. "And when all this is over, maybe we'll..."

He trails off. Jyn leans closer and whispers, "We'll what?"

The whir of an engine reaches her ears as an Alliance starcraft descends, hovering close to the edge of the bridge, and the door slides open to reveal three Rebels. They shout at Jyn to hurry, to jump before the base is engulfed in debris, but when she looks back at Cassian he's gone.

They run to her, trying to drag her away and into the craft, but Jyn is still clinging to him babbling "No, I'm not leaving him, I'm not leaving him--"

"He's gone," someone tells her, and suddenly she's back on Eadu, holding on to her father, and Cassian is the one pulling her to safety--

"I am NOT LEAVING HIM!" Jyn screams, and the others pause for a second. Their leader says, "Get both of them," and it is only when she sees them grab hold of Cassian's lifeless form does she stop resisting and lets herself be hauled into the ship.

* * *

 

At least with Cassian, they have a body. The rest of Rogue One just turns to ash.

The Council gives Jyn what they promised her. She's a free woman now, but it just feels like she's just locked herself into a new cage; another kind of prison, as Chirrut Imwe would say.

Mon Mothma looks at her and sees the pain that no amount of military honors or praise can soften. She offers Jyn a place in the Alliance, to fight against the Empire as she was trained to do all her life. Jyn accepts, but it's harder than she anticipates. It is far too difficult to go into battle without K-2SO's begrudging loyalty and strategic input, without Baze's taut conviction, without Chirrut's wisdom or Bodhi's resourcefulness or Cassian's experience.

It is far too difficult to go on without Cassian, period.

She asks to remain anonymous. Mothma stations her off-system in an Alliance outpost that takes her far enough away from the ones that recognize her. That's where she hears that the Death Star has been destroyed and her friends' sacrifices validated, the victory wrought by the appearance of an enigmatic young man who is strong with the Force. She hears a name, Luke Skywalker, and they say he's a hero, a savior, a Jedi. Chirrut would have loved this.

Alone in her quarters she lifts a glass of Corellian wine and says, "Father, we did it."

After that, fighting the good fight is a little bit easier.

She only reveals herself much later, when Skywalker returns from an encounter with Darth Vader, lacking one hand, his lightsaber and the last of his boyhood innocence.

Luke's face is drawn and haunted as he looks up at the latest visitor to his sick bay.

"They said you flew in from the Haxon system," he says hoarsely. "You came all the way here to see me?"

"Yes," says Jyn softly.

"Who are you?"

She tells him. She gives him the whole truth, as briefly and simply and painlessly as she can manage. And for a few minutes, they're back: the pilot, the monk, the mercenary, the droid, the captain. Cassian, with that smile Jyn still remembers so well.

When she finishes, Luke's breathing is steady, his eyes wide.

"So it was you?" He says, sounding like a boy again. "You were the ones who stole the plans. I-- I couldn't have done this without you, then." He reaches for her hand with his good one. "Thank you."

At the sound of the two words, Jyn exhales, the tight bonds of her sacrifice unwinding all at once. She finds it easy to smile at him. "I heard you lost your lightsaber."

"Yeah," mutters Luke. "It was my father's."

Jyn senses that there's more to this statement than the boy lets on, but instead she says, "You'll need a new one. That's why I came here." She reaches up behind her to undo the clasp in her mother's necklace. Despite the danger and the heartbreak Jyn has been through, the crystal has endured. And now it finds its way into Luke's remaining hand, scarred from working on the moisture farm as a boy.

"A kyber crystal," she explains. "They powered the lightsabers and they fueled the Death Star. This is one of the last ones remaining." Jyn folds his finds over the crystal. "You need it more than I do."

Luke takes the crystal gratefully. Jyn leans back, surveying him. This is Luke's story now, not hers. She is more than glad to relinquish the responsibility.

"May the Force be with you," she says softly.

Luke looks up and meets her eyes and a spark lights up in them, like a star with a heart of kyber, and Jyn knows. This boy is going to save them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the EU makes some kind of explanation in the comics or something about how Luke gets the lightsaber he uses in Return of the Jedi. But I'm in charge here, this is an AU anyway and I wanted Jyn's kyber crystal to have some sort of impact on the larger Star Wars universe. You're welcome, Luke.


End file.
